Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Black as night with no chance of light getting through this brew. A fingernail of tawny brown covers almost the whole top. Aroma of sweet bourbon, raisins, and fig is prominent, but not overpowering. I taste the sweet bourbon, raisins, and fig. The alcohol stands out in presence, but does not overpower the palate. There is a gentle,but firm warming in your mouth curtesy of the high octane alcohol. (405 characters)

Appearance: pours black with just the faintest hint of mahogany. a finger or so a tannish head with good retention but leaves nothing behind. viscous brown legs are seen as you swirl it around. completely opaque.

Taste: opens with a slight syrup and molasses mixture. bourbon filters in strongly with alcohol and some oak. brown sugar, dark caramels and burnt sugar, dark fruits and roasted malts fill out the taste. ends with a bit more alcohol bitterness.

Mouthfeel: thick and chewy. very molasses like texture, especially due to the bitterness of the alcohol.

Overall: both this and Old Viscosity are great brews. not quite the roasted burnt stout style but a super sweet and rich beer that is nicely balanced by the booziness. (847 characters)

2013 Vintage. Surprised at how "thin" this beer looked when pouring. Beautiful small mocha head that lingered around. Initially thought this suffered from the shit of under-carbing like always but after sipping was happy with it. Redonks amount of bourbon, vanilla and dark roast malts that played well with what hops still remained. Great mouth coating, tasty and actually pretty damn drinkable. Good stuff. (408 characters)

If you're into big ol' boozy imperial stouts, this has what you're looking for. Loads of sweet on the nose and brutally intense malt boldness. I'd like to get another one of these to age. (187 characters)

S. Aromas of roasted malts and dark chocolate. Coffee a bit. But booze is what shines here.

T. Smooth. Not alot up front but the aftertaste is very nice. Lingering dark chocolate, Coffee and hazelnut. And of course some nice charred oak. But not as intense as the aroma.

M. This is a 6 out of 10 on body which is welcome for this beer. Luscious and velvety. Slight carbonation. Clean but slight boozy finish making you want more. This part is very well done.

O. A very nice BA stout. I'd say close to bcbs. Very happy to have tried for my first time. I think it could have a little more upfront flavor but this also has a year on it so it could be that. All in all. Enjoyable. (843 characters)

A- Pours a fully opaque black color with a 1/2 inch light brown head that retains well before becoming a thick ring around the edge of the glass and a half sheet of surface foam. Semi-resilient lacing leaves a thick ring behind.

S- Initial shot of dark roasted malt plus some booze and oak. After that, there's some vanilla and dark chocolate. There's also this weird mustiness that's not so pleasant.

T- Decadent dark chocolate and vanilla notes plus some caramel. Pretty sweet but also somewhat bitter and roasty with the oak rounding everything out nicely. ABV is very well-hidden. Little bit of raisin and a trace of coconut in the aftertaste.

M- Silky smooth and chewy with medium carbonation and a full body.

O- Smells a little off but the rest checks out just fine. Smooth and rich with lots of chocolaty complexity. The oak presence is moderate which adds to the high drinkability. (979 characters)

Strong bourbon notes with the oak, vanilla, and some chocolate coming through too. Real nice dark brown color accented by the reddish amber hue along the edges. Not much in the way of a foam cap but spotty slight lacing is there. Beautiful bourbon flavor intertwined with oak, vanilla, and cocoa. Pretty full bodied on the palate with a creamy feel finishing with some heat. Absolutely wonderful whiskey barrel aged stout! (422 characters)

A: Black, no light comes through, creamy mocha head with lots of tiny bubbles, some carbonation, some minor lacing, head stuck around for quite some time, looks really good.

A: Big chocolate and roasted coffee aromas up front, alcohol, malts, dark fruits, more on the roasted side than the sweet side, but the smell is really coming off the glass, I am picking up the aroma about 6 inches from the glass, big aroma.

T: Big chocolate, coffee, roasted and toasted malts, not getting much of the bourbon, it's slightly there, chocolate and coffee come through more than the bourbon, bitter on the back end with the alcohol noticeable.

O: Very impressed, I would like to have more bourbon character on the nose and flavor but this is really tasty, nice creamy mouthfeel and at 12% ABV, the alcohol is well hidden, not sure when this was bottled but it's very pleasant. Price is a little steep but this will not disappoint. (1,122 characters)

L - Darkness on the pour with a light brown head which fades rather fastS - coconut, vanilla, chocolate & boozeT - tastes of dark chocolate, burnt caramel and a hint of hazelnutF - full mouthfeel with some heat as it goes downO - lovely beer and glad I got the opportunity to try it and hope to enjoy it again! (314 characters)

Guest tap at FFF poured into snifter. Appearance is deep brown with no translucent edges. A small tan head forms, then collapses to a thin remnant that lasts the session - which took a while. This was a textbook sipper. The aroma is barrel-forward: coconut, charred oak, vanilla, brown sugar, and booze. Below that are coffee, dark chocolate, roasted malt, and ripe plum. Taste is lead by toasted coconut and the barrel notes - all washed in alcohol. Moderate sweetness comes next in the form of vanilla, molasses, and chocolate. Some bitter licorice and oak flavors come late. Full bodied, thick, oily, and chewy texture, minimal carbonation, long sweet boozy finish. (668 characters)

The bourbon flavor I was really looking forward to is almost non-existent, heavily roasted malts, sweet chocolate, faint notes of raisins or another dark fruit, and the oak woodiness is definitely present.

I made the mistake of putting this in the cellar for 1.5 years and it serves me right that it was less than stellar from the cellar. So, if you have one of these, drink it fresh. However, you don't know until you try.

The only thing that was off-putting about this beer was that it didn't have any carbonation to support it. I thought it was well made, albeit the nose was a tad muted, it could have used a bit more barrel, and there was a touch of oxidation, but nothing that would keep me from drinking this again.

Corked caged bottle A-pour a thick jet black color with a thin mocha head lots of lacing on the glassS-Chocolate and wood with molasses dark fruit roasted malts T-Yum its roasted malts and semi-sweet chocolate with great wood/oak BB flavours dark fruit slight hops M-smooth and creamy lower carbonationO-a treat to drink with flavors of wood and malt and BB let this one warm up a bit great brew (401 characters)

Appearance: Pours a beautiful, completely opaque, pitch-black color with practically no head what-so-ever, except for a thin halo of caramel-colored foam that gripped the sides of the glass.

Aroma: Very aromatic! Lots of roasted malt, imparting notes of coffee, dark chocolate, dark molasses, brown sugar, some oatmeal, vanilla, a touch of licorice and smoke, some aromas of dried fruit, such as raising, prunes and figs, and woody notes of oak. There’s quite a bit of booze in the aroma as well.

Taste: Delicious! Strong flavors of roasted malt, followed by some boozy bourbon flavors of oak, vanilla and molasses. There are also strong flavors of dark chocolate, licorice, brown sugar-like sweetness, toffee, coffee and creamer and caramel.

Mouthfeel: Chewy and smooth as hell, as there is no carbonation what-so-ever. With an ABV of 12%, there is a very pleasant alcohol warmth on the palate.

The bourbon flavor is the main stage here. But what a smooth clean finish. Starts out a bit boozy but the chocolate and vanilla notes appear as the glass warms up. No head with a dark rich color (194 characters)

Wow do much better than old viscosity, pours black with a chocolate one finger everlasting head, smell is bourbon , dark chocolate, oak,booze and irish coffee, lucious full feel with above moderate carbonation which makes this such an easy drinker with dark and milk chocolate being on the forefront followed by oak and finished like an irish coffee full of booze, dark fruit and coffee, overall what a stunner of a drop and well worth a taste cheers. (451 characters)

A: 4 Pitch black with almost no head. Seems to have lost most of it carbonation in the last 3 years.

S: 4.5 What it lost in carbonation it certainly made up for in aroma. Lots of chocolate, dates, and vanilla on the nose followed closely by a unique spiciness that only seems to come from Port/Lost Abbey strong ales. Caramel, cinnamon, and bourbon are also present, but are bit milder. As the beer warms even more dried fruit comes out, including figs and raisins.

T: 4.5 Fairly sweet up front followed quickly by spices from the nose. Very similar to the aroma with chocolate, vanilla, and bourbon a bit more in the forefront. There’s still a present fruitiness here too with more raisin than figs and dates from the nose. Very light bitterness on the end highlights the chocolate flavors and richness of this beer.

M: 4.25 Despite the lack of carbonation, this beer still feels a bit lively and satisfying. Also, the mouthfeel isn’t particularly thick, yet it has a very substantial quality. Not perfect in this area, but definitely better than I was expecting.

O: 4.5 I’m very pleased with this beer and it’s held up very well. There are a lot of great flavors going on and, despite its problems, its still very enjoyable and satisfying. I had one of these fresh recently and it did not have the same complexity and richness; it could be the aging or batch variation, but it’s drinking great now after 3 years. (1,475 characters)

My favorite beer of all time. The thickest beer I have ever drank, I don't even feel like going over why the is better than 99% of stouts out there. If you like stouts and find this on a shelf, buy it. You will not be disappointed. (234 characters)